


Views from Rooftops

by lady_mab



Category: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)
Genre: Gen, KHUX - Freeform, zine fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-05
Updated: 2020-09-05
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:21:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,146
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26305531
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lady_mab/pseuds/lady_mab
Summary: They talk about the missions they’ve gone on, comparing battle scars and stories about the people they’ve met.Strelitzia treasures every second of it.It’s not that she’s been avoiding her brother. He’s gone as much as she is, if not more. She spends a lot of time while in Daybreak Town up on the roofs, watching the other wielders come and go.Her Keyblade hums in her hands, and using it is like a dance she knows on instinct. Lauriam is equally graceful, but his moves are calculated. Every strike precise and measured.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 17





	Views from Rooftops

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to all the mods over at [Front Cover: A KHUX Zine](https://twitter.com/khxzine)! All of the art in it is SO FANTASTIC, so pop on over to the twitter to see all the pieces once they start going up :)

Strelitzia hums softly to herself, watching a flock of birds overhead. They dip and whirl, dive and dance through the clear blue sky, and her notes rise and fall with their cadence. 

The sun is warm, comfortably so, and she lets her eyes slip shut. Just for a moment. Just until she has to get up and — and move, jump off to the next world, her Keyblade humming in her hands. It sings a different tune than the birds, and she finds herself switching to that melody before she can stop herself. 

“—litzia?” 

One eye cracks open, then both, and she lets her head roll to the side. Her gaze focuses on the distant gables as she waits for the voice to call again. 

“Strelitzia, where are you?” 

She sits upright, then scrambles carefully to her knees. “Lauriam!” 

Her brother makes a sound of confusion, then immediately a groan of understanding. 

Strelitzia slides to the edge of the rooftop, catching herself on the gutter before she can get too far. “You found me!” 

He retreats into her line of vision, frowning up at her with a hand over his eyes and absolutely no malice in his expression. “How do you keep getting up there?” 

“I like it.” 

“That’s not — no, never mind. Your Chirithy said I’d find you here.” Lauriam looks around, considering. “How are you supposed to get down?” 

She pretends to consider this also, though the answer is the same as it was getting up onto the roofs in the first place. “You’ll catch me?” 

He splutters a laugh, and the hand shading his eyes pushes back through his hair. “You can’t be serious.” 

Again, she pretends to consider this — glancing from him to the cobbled courtyard below. 

“Strelitzia—!” 

She ducks out of sight to hide her laughter. “I’m kidding, Lauriam. I’ll be down in a moment.” Her head pokes out over the edge once more to flash him a smile. “Wait right there!” 

It’s a simple matter of sliding down the tiled edge of a roof onto one that slopes towards a balcony. A hop, shimmy, and drop later, she dusts off her hands and rounds the corner into the courtyard. 

Lauriam has his hands in his pockets. “Did you forget that we were supposed to go shopping?” he teases as she loops her arm through his. 

“Nope!” She’s been looking forward to this all week. 

“Was I just supposed to guess you were up on the roof of a random building?” 

“I knew you’d be able to find me.” 

He huffs a sigh and shakes his head. “Next time, tell me.” 

Strelitzia hums, but doesn’t say anything. She wonders if she doesn’t tell him, will he keep coming to find her. Instead, she hugs his arm closer and lets her head drop onto his shoulder. “What are we making for dinner?” 

“Chicken, or fish?” 

“Fish! With brussel sprouts.” 

The sounds of the market grow in a steady crescendo as they climb the stairs. The energy swirls around her as they crest the landing, and a bounce forms in her step as she pulls ahead by a few paces. 

“Oh, look at the plants!” She coos as her fingers trace the vines hanging from a shop display. “Can I get one?” 

“Didn’t you _just_ get one?” 

“That was two weeks ago, and that one is in the kitchen. This one will go in my room.” 

He sighs and shakes his head, but the smile is, like always, fond. “Don’t think that I am somehow capable of stopping you.” 

Strelitzia grins and bundles up the plant in question as she goes to pay for it. When that’s done, the two of them return to their quest for ingredients. 

* * *

Lauriam makes dinner, and for the first time in what feels like a very long time, the two of them are able to enjoy a quiet evening together. No _Keyblade this_ or _lux that_. 

They talk about the missions they’ve gone on, comparing battle scars and stories about the people they’ve met. 

Strelitzia treasures every second of it. 

It’s not that she’s been avoiding her brother. He’s gone as much as she is, if not more. She spends a lot of time while in Daybreak Town up on the roofs, watching the other wielders come and go. 

Her Keyblade hums in her hands, and using it is like a dance she knows on instinct. Lauriam is equally graceful, but his moves are calculated. Every strike precise and measured. 

They rarely see each other around other wielders, though that has more to do with Strelitzia avoiding actually mingling with them. Lauriam is easily the more social. He has friends amongst the other wielders. He is friends with the Union Leaders. 

Strelitzia has him, and her Chirithy.

After dinner, Strelitzia takes the dishes back to the kitchen and puts on the kettle for tea. The conversation drops to a lull, and so she looks for the melody in the clanking forks and glasses, the whispered chatter between the water and the bubbles. 

Lauriam studies his hands, at the bruised knuckles, the calluses that turn nimble fingers rough. “Sometimes,” he says, and it comes out on a wistful sigh. “Sometimes I wish there had been some other option.” 

Strelitzia pauses, her hands hovering over the mugs, staring holes into the thin sprig of mint that she had brought home two weeks ago. She studies the childish vines she had painted on the pot when she was younger. She studies it because she doesn’t want to react, doesn’t want to tell him that _this is all she’s ever wanted_. 

How is she supposed to tell him about the book upstairs in her room? Does he know what is on the horizon? 

_It’s alright, I will protect you_ , she wants to tell him. 

Strelitzia turns quickly, clutching one of the tea bags in her trembling fingers. “Lauriam—” she starts, but then he looks up and meets her gaze and her words stutter to a stop in her throat.

The light slants in through the windows, washing his hands on the table in honeyed gold and leaving the rest of him in stark shadows. 

“Strelitzia?” He’s been picking at his nail beds again — she can tell, even from across the room. Something troubles him and all he can do is think about her. “Is everything okay?” 

The kettle whistles, and that’s enough to break her concentration. 

She spins back to the counter to busy herself with fixing their tea. “We’ll be alright,” she finally says, and hates that she can’t offer a better reassurance. 

Tomorrow, she will accept the position that Master Ava offered her. And once the power is hers, she will let Lauriam know. He will be able to help her — people listen to him. 

But first, she has to know that she will be able to keep everyone safe. 

**Author's Note:**

> huge thanks to dianne who is my source of all khux news, and the source of all my strelitzia love!!


End file.
